For months now I have been in an almost constant state of
agitation about the current political campaign.
My distaste for Clinton and fear of Trump color my days and nights. Now, happily, a soothing calm has settled on
me, making even the daily chores of shopping at the market and preparing dinner
once again joyful. [Tonight? Seared tuna with a dipping sauce of garlic,
ginger, and soy sauce, haricot verts,
and my signature dish of cherry tomato halves sautéed with garlic and
chopped fresh basil.]
The cause of this calm?
The thought that very soon I shall again be teaching Kant’s First Critique. It is for me what it must be for a pianist or
harpsichordist who returns to playing Bach’s Art of the Fugue. I find
myself throughout the day delivering the first lecture in my head, planning the
sequence in which I shall explain the countless things students must know in
order to begin to appreciate that transcendently [and also, as it happens,
transcendentally] great work.
Oh, I shall volunteer for the Clinton campaign in North Carolina
and do my little bit to carry the state for her, perhaps also helping to rid us
of our egregious senior senator and appalling governor. But as I enter data or walk door to door, in
my head I shall be revisiting the Deduction of the Pure Concepts of
Understanding or the Second Analogy.
What fun!
If Kant's First Critique is like Bach's Art of the Fugue, what piece of music is Marx's Capital like?
ReplyDeleteOne of the hallmarks of Bach is his clarity. Anyone with functioning ears can appreciate him. I wouldn't say the same about Kant.
ReplyDeleteBeethoven's Ninth
ReplyDeleteI was think the last quartets.
ReplyDeleteIf the Kant lectures are still including students, expect one from NC State. After having spent countless hours over the past 6 months making sense of (or attempting) the transcendental deduction, making a little more sense about the schematism, actually feeling like I have a firm grasp on the analogies, and then incorporating Kant's idea of imagination into the mix, I asked Michael Pendlebury what one would do next if looking to study the First Critique in more depth... Looks like I found it!
ReplyDeleteAlso, it might be a little less stressful knowing this for pure enrichment rather than making sure I get an A :)
come on along -- Mondays at 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Caldwell Hall 213 at UNC, starting August 29th.
ReplyDelete